The gloves are finally coming off in the Randy Couture vs the UFC saga. The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that lawyers for Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, filed a lawsuit Monday against the promotion’s current heavyweight champion.
Lawyers for Zuffa, LLC, the UFC’s parent company, on Monday filed suit in Clark County District Court, alleging chiefly that Couture’s comments about the UFC and its senior management caused the business irreparable damage and that he is in breach of the contract he signed with the company in December 2006.
“We are alleging numerous intentional torts, which have caused Zuffa and the UFC significant harm,” attorney Donald J. Campbell said. “Based upon that harm we are seeking to address these matters before a court of law.”
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $10,000 and states that the amount of both compensatory and punitive damages would be proven at trial. It also seeks an injunction restraining Couture from participating in any way in any promotion competing against the UFC.
Back on October 11, after announcing he was resigning from his duties with the UFC, Randy Couture held a press conference at his gym in Las Vegas to clear up his points of contention. In the press conference, Randy expressed his frustrations and how he felt he had been slighted over his many years of service to the company. Some key points were Randy’s assertion that he was never paid a signing bonus that was negotiated in his contract, that the UFC treats its athletes poorly, and that fighters were frequently paid with “off-the-books” bonus money.
Later that same week Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta held their own press conference to dispel Randy’s claims and produced documents and canceled checks refuting Couture’s accusations.
“What’s really tough for me, to be honest, is we have been friends for a very long time,” White said. “The hard part is that he is not living up to his obligations. Captain America is not keeping his word.”
“I expect Randy to honor the obligations in his contract that he signed (a year ago). I tried to resolve it by talking to this guy that I’ve had a relationship with for eight years and was unsuccessful,” White said. “Now this thing’s in the hands of the justice system.”
The lawsuit claims a breach of contract on Randy Couture’s part and that Couture’s comments about the company let to significant financial loss for the UFC due to “injurious falsehood and trade disparagement.” The lawsuit also make accusations of conspiracy, claiming that third parties worked in conjunction with Randy to intentionally harm the UFC and its business. Finally, the lawsuit claims a breach of contract due to a clause which prohibits Couture from direct or indirect competition with the UFC for a 12 month period after his contract expires.
The assumption is that Randy’s involvement with the IFL is to blame for the competition. The IFL’s first fight card of the year, coming up on February 29 in Las Vegas, is scheduled to have a “fight camp” team fielded by Xtreme Couture.
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felo
Mike
Tony
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Ben Cartlidge
Rich
Yael Grauer
ToughTexan
Hari Khalsa
I knew it would come to this eventually.
Wow….this just gets uglier and uglier by the day…
As much as I like Randy, especially when compared to Dana White, I still have to side with the UFC on this one. After I looked at the evidence from both sides, I really cannot see how Randy was “disrespected” by the UFC. Randy made a lot of money especially when he received the revenue from the Pay-Per-Views. I think Randy wanted to fight Fedor so bad that he created this situation to get out of the UFC. I have to agree that Randy made his comments with the intentions of hurting the UFC, probably to get other fighters to second guess their future contracts with Zuffa. In the end Randy is trying to make it possbile to fight Fedor and make a lot of money doing it. Randy also by mixing the pot with the UFC could also boost any Fight Promotions that he has a hand in. Guys I know we all respect Captain America, but I think he might be just as greedy as the other guy, if you know what I mean.
I dont think this comes as a surprise to anyone, it would have been nice if they could work it out, but thats not gonna happen. So Randy joins the list of UFC hall of famers who have almost ALL been blacklisted by the UFC.
I am not in total disagreement with you, but what do you actaully meen by being “Blacklisted”? Is it because they do not have a role with the UFC? Do you meen the UFC did not use them because they wanted to work with other fight promotions? I believe all of the names below would still have a role with the UFC if one they wanted to or if they did not choose to work with other promotions.
And with Randy, he blacklisted himself.
The UFC Hall of Fame:
1. Dan Severn
2. Ken Shamrock
3. Royce Gracie
4. Randy Coutur
What i meant by blacklisted is, they have had a falling out with the UFC. Like personal problems with Dana, arguments about salarys, basically getting these guys blacklisted.
For example, whens the last time you saw a full UFC unleashed focusing on Royce Gracie, or Ken Shamrock? They have had full shows about Randy, because they were backing him bigtime as a hall of famer. Do you think we will see and Randy Couture specials on UFC unleashed now?? lol.
nope, not gonna happen, for whatever reason, he fell out of favor with the UFC, just like Ken and Royce. Thats what i meant by blacklisted.
dana white looks like a ***** pimp with hair
What can i say? I saw this coming the moment couture showed his contract live. That move was uncalled for. Certain things are not meant for public viewing except in the court of law.
Anyway, I am even on this issue. Too bad they can’t work it out. Couture is no saint and so is ufc. I actually think that couture will ended up paying ufc the damages but allowed to fight fedor at the end of his contract. This way, the fan wins. We still get to see couture vs fedor.
Couture is trying to cement his legacy. If he beats fedor, he will be the greatest MMA fighter of all time. If he loses to fedor, his reputation is untarnished. I don’t think there is anything to be ashamed off by losing to fedor (not yet anyway). Couture is actually in a win-win situation. It’s all about how much he is willing to pay to cement his legacy.
For the people that claimed that they know and reviewed the conflict between ufc and couture, STOP dreaming! You will never know all the legal details and loopholes unless you are a lawyer responsible for the case or you are the judge or jury. As for the rest of us, we have to depend on the media how they report it.